Germany Under Hitler

In 1938, Germany was
a total dictatorship under the Nazi Party and Chancellor Adolf
Hitler. Although the 1919Treaty
of Versailles that ended World War I had imposed strict disarmament
terms on Germany, by the late 1930s,
Hitler had dropped all pretense of observing the terms of the treaty.
He began not only to rebuild his military rapidly, but also to speak
openly of Germany’s need for lebensraum, or
“living space.”

Anschluss and Appeasement

In March 1938,
offering little in the way of justification, Nazi troops took control Austria,
which put up no resistance. Hitler claimed that the annexation was
supported by his doctrine of Anschluss,
or natural political unification of Germany and Austria. Though
gravely disturbed, Britain and France took no action. Shortly thereafter,
Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia cede to Germany the Sudetenland,
a territory along the German-Czech border. Hitler accused the Czechs of
repressing the large German population there and asserted that the
territory rightly belonged to Germany.

The September 1938Munich
Conference was called to address the situation; ironically,
Czechoslovakia was not present. After several rounds of negotiation,
and despite their own treaties with Czechoslovakia, Britain and
France agreed to give in to Hitler’s demand, as long as he agreed
not to seize any further European territory. Hitler did sign an
agreement to that effect, promising no further invasions.

After taking the Sudetenland, however, Hitler ignored
the agreement and proceeded to occupy most of western Czechoslovakia, along
with several other territories in eastern Europe. Britain and France
again took no action. This policy of appeasement of
Hitler’s demands, which was advocated primarily by British prime
minister Neville Chamberlain, has been much criticized
as paving the road to World War II.

The Consequences of Appeasement

The decisions made by the Allied nations leading up to
World War II, as well as those of the first six months or so after
the war began, have dumbfounded historians ever since. The appeasement
of Hitler, in particular, has been so often held up as an example
of how not to deal with a rising dictator that
it has become a stereotype.

However, although it may be obvious in hindsight that
Hitler should not have been appeased, the actions of Prime Minister Chamberlain
must be considered within the context of the time. Europe was still
recovering from World War I: many of the countries of Europe were
adjusting to new parliamentary governments, and the newly created League
of Nations was a new force in international affairs. Few
European leaders understood the full scope of Hitler’s intentions,
and a decision to go to war would have been hugely unpopular in
countries, such as Britain and France, that had been so devastated
in World War I. Indeed, many sincerely believed that the very concept
of war had become obsolete.